Seq 2.2: Memory Efficiency, One-click Auto-refresh, Filter History

Jul 13, 2015 • nblumhardt

It took some restraint to get Seq 2.0 over the line: there are so many possibilities that there’s really no way everything I’d like to have done could make the cut. Now the “big bang” is over, it’s great to be able to make more regular point releases like Seq 2.2, which this post is about.

Improved Memory Efficiency

Seq is a disk-backed data store that uses memory caching extensively. When data from older events does spill over from RAM, I/O is needed and queries slow down.

Seq 2.2 performs additional de-duplication of string data to represent more events in the same cache space. This reduces the need for I/O and places less overall burden on the CPU. The net effect is that queries can run noticeably faster on busy servers.

One-click “Auto-refresh on”

The much-used “Auto-refresh on” option has been promoted from a drop-down menu item to a top-level button. It’s represented by the little “infinity” icon in the image above.

Recent Filter History

Seq 1.6 used deep-linking to tie the current filter expression to the web browser’s history. The basic idea was sound – it’s nice to enter a filter, try another, then press “Back” to go to the previous one.

In practice log navigation is so fluid that what you thought was the last filter often turns out to be a few clicks back, which ends up being a clunky back-back-back experience. Seq 2.0 therefore booted out back button support for filters, instead providing coarse-grained history between the dash, settings, and events screens (deep-linking of filters is still supported, but they don’t go on the browser’s back-stack).

Seq 2.2 brings back the notion of history in the guise of a “recent filters” drop-down you can see in the right of the filter box. Clicking on one of the history entries will set the filter to that text:

The release includes other small enhancements and bug fixes, listed in the complete release notes.

There will be more point releases in the 2.x cycle at about the same 2-4 week interval, but 2.2 really is one not to miss. You can download it now from the Seq website – let us know what you think!